International Quinoa Research Symposium

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a nutritious and broadly adapted grain crop in high demand in the US. However, very little information is available to farmers regarding regionally adapted varieties, best management practices, or marketing options for quinoa. Additionally, the current quinoa supply from the traditional quinoa producing Andean countries (Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador) is insufficient and unable to meet the current and growing demand in the US, driving distributors, wholesalers, and retailers to seek out domestic, reliable sources of quinoa.

The primary goal of this proposal is to bring together all interested stakeholders from the Pacific Northwest and engage in discussions, field tours and speaking sessions with internationally recognized quinoa research scientists during our International Quinoa Research Symposium on August 12&13, 2013. Our outreach plan will integrate research and demonstration activities to effectively reach a wide audience of stakeholders. We will use in-person events (field tours), printed materials (Extension publications), and digital resources (webinars, webpages, and web-based videos) to effectively reach producers and agricultural professionals.

Farmers and quinoa distributors have been instrumental in the development of all stages of this proposal. We were able to identify and prioritize critical research objectives for this project, through our on-farm variety trials and input gathered from growers and other stakeholders at numerous field days, demonstrations and roundtables. All these aspects were considered to best ensure a successful International Quinoa Research Symposium.

Grant Information

  • Project ID: 130
  • Project Status: Complete

2013

Publications

All the oral, indoor presentations were recorded, including the slides, and are available as webinars in eOrganic. They can be accessed using the following links:
YouTube Playlist

eOrganic Playlist

Impacts

The short term impacts of this symposium, including: global networking, an honest and open exchange of ideas, concerns, and differences in opinion concerning the challenges and opportunities of equitable production and marketing of quinoa; and, the development of scientistscientist, farmer-scientist, and distributor-farmer-scientist-consumer relationships, were seen immediately, beginning during the presentations the morning of the first day. Additionally, by hosting the symposium, WSU was able to highlight our diversity of on-going quinoa research, spanning approximately eight faculty and ten graduate students. The exposure this symposium lent to WSU quinoa research helped establish WSU as one of the leading quinoa research universities, both in the US and in the international arena. The medium term impacts are yet to be realized, but already we are seeing critical and enthusiastic interest from quinoa importing companies to support quinoa research at WSU in the hopes of developing a robust domestic market. Additionally, two companies have begun preliminary research on the development of one or more quinoa processing facilities in the Pacific Northwest, which will be critical if quinoa production will realize its potential as an emerging, productive and nutritious crop in the US.